(24-03-2017 10:54 AM)adey67 Wrote: Likewise regarding respect FC.
Yes I would agree that it turned into ad hominem city, but there are many threads where similar has happened and they didn't get temporarily suspended. Not a criticism I respect the decisions made just pointing out a fact.

No one was suspended, you mean the thread was temporarily closed right?

We're not bots, we do the best we can under the circumstances.

As for me if I see the situation getting out of hand between long-standing members like last night the proper thing to do is pour a big bucket of ice water on them. I'd prefer that to having contributing members rip each other's throats out while "discussing" what constitutes hurting other forum member's feelings.

Anyway, the thread has been re-opened.

Yes I did mean the thread and I do take your point it was getting hugely toxic last night. Who'd be a mod eh ? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I personally don't know how you all do it, must be a bloody nightmare

You should not have locked this thread, in the first place. Perhaps a brief pause, to give people time to calm down ("count to ten", as one put it), if people were becoming over-emotionally-charged in their posts.

Brief is a subjective.

(24-03-2017 08:15 AM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: I do not believe that was the case, but it's a legitimate thing to temporarily lock a thread for a few minutes, a couple of hours, whatever. But it was simply locked down and remains so. This is a grievous error on the part of the mods, and I think will do ultimate harm to this forum.

It was opened by the time I got up in the morning, now granted I'm on the west coast, but I didn't have to get up this morning yet was still up at 8:30am.

(24-03-2017 08:15 AM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: I'm tired of seeing people praised on this site for "speaking their minds", when in reality they're just being a harmful asshole to others and then trying to hide it behind free speech. I'm tired of seeing people being allowed to get away with calling others pussies or snowflakes or whatever because they think basic human decency includes some respect and empathy for others. And I'm most certainly tired of having to worry if the ruling censors will decide who can and cannot respond when an asshole has been set loose among us, crying about how he has to be able to treat people like shit or else there's no free speech.

I don't disagree with this but I also don't think this was the intent of closing the thread. It was just a cool-down period.

(24-03-2017 08:15 AM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: Well free speech works both ways. I have to be free to point out not only that the person is an asshole but exactly why it is that they're an asshole, or free speech is utterly stifled-- all you've done, then, is hand a microphone to a hatemonger and gagged anyone who might counter his hateful speech.

Except that the thread was reopened and I understand I'm somewhat late to the party.

(24-03-2017 08:15 AM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: This sort of mod overreach and censorship of the wrong things is why I left AF, and why we just recently got an influx from Amazon. I would hate to lose my motivation for coming to a place like this, and I feel that I'm probably not the only one who would go.

I think you've been here long enough to know how infrequent this happens, unless you've had other issues here that aren't part of this topic. Then I welcome as always a discussion about any concerns in PM.

(24-03-2017 08:15 AM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: You fucked up, mods. That's all there is to it. Unlock that thread and let Muffs take the lumps he has coming to him, instead of protecting his ass when he's being an ass. A brief pause might have mitigated the damage, sure, but at this point it's just growing into a rage I may have to take a few posts to discharge fully into that shit-bird's vacuous skull.

Trust me, the longer you keep that thread locked, the worse it will be for everyone.

I probably should reiterate that it's unfortunate timing, with the lock occurring around 9:30 PM my time (PDT) and being unlocked at 7:30am my time according to moderation logs. People do have to sleep.

(24-03-2017 08:15 AM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: And if you keep protecting that asshole long enough, you're going to have a higher collection of assholes than non-assholes here.

Best decide now what sort of voice y'all want in this place, because it appears you've made a choice, and it's not a good direction in which to take this forum.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate the thought you put into this.

Later you wrote:

(24-03-2017 08:31 AM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: Yes, he said he would open it again "in the morning", which... has not happened. But I guess it isn't noon yet.

It should not have been for that long...it should not have happened in the first place. If it had to happen, it should have been as limited as possible.

This. Is. A. Fuck. Up.

Own it.

I take responsibility, right or wrong for what the forum team does in my absence, or even while I'm on the forum.

I might have done something similar or left a different instruction for the team, but people are people. I was actually on the forum at 2am and could have just as easily opened the thread, but I honestly didn't think about it at that time. I'm human.

I hope this helps ease some of the frustrations you have right now RS. You or anyone can always PM me with any concerns you might have about the forum.

Right now my only hope is that shit goes through and that I didn't screw up the quote tags...Because I've not yet, had my requisite coffee intake of the morning...

But as if to knock me down, reality came around
And without so much as a mere touch, cut me into little pieces

(24-03-2017 10:15 AM)Full Circle Wrote: RS, think back to when you were the object of attack and demanded the mods to step in or else you'd leave. Seems to me you are now arguing the very opposite point. Am I wrong? If so please point out the fallacy of what I'm suggesting. Thanks.

You can't see a difference? Can't see a difference?

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?

In my case, someone was deliberately and unquestionably doing everything they could to cause deliberate harm to a person with PTSD, who had specifically asked for it to stop.

In this case, no one was the "object of attack", no one was deliberately trying to go for the guts of a person with PTSD with the nastiest tactics they could devise, and no one asked it to stop.

In this case, it was simply decided out of the blue to end an ongoing argument because Muffs... whom I suspect, for all I loathe about him, would not want any argument closed down for any reason.

How dare you try to make a comparison between the two situations, to throw it in my face, yet again.

Go fuck yourself.

"Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important revelation of all! Could it be that they were not really privy to the thoughts of God?" - E. O. Wilson

If the reason the thread was closed for such a long duration (in addition to the cool off period) is because mods need to be able to get some sleep (totally understandable)--why not "hire" an overnight mod? Especially since it was mentioned that mods are volunteers so it wouldn't be a budgetary issue. Jdog, for instance is a night owl and a well-liked regular on the forum and has expressed an interest in the mod position.

Hiring another mod might be a happy medium to RS point about the thread being closed for so long and yet, still provide a mod to temporarily close a thread for a cool off period. It would also be a further defense against overnight trolls or any other nighttime shenanigans. Anyway, just a suggestion.

(24-03-2017 09:26 AM)kim Wrote: I saw nothing afoul with Rev's action to close the thread for the night. It gives all a chance to just fuck off and realize that throwing letters at each other accomplishes about as much as wallowing in one's own shit. Eventually, everyone's going to have to clean that shit up off of and out of, everything and everywhere.

I've not come across this in other combative threads so I'm guessing this happening is kind of a precedent, it might work well for the forum if and ONLY if its applied evenly through the site on threads of a sensitive nature that are getting out of hand, otherwise I can see it causing division.

Oh - it used to happen quite a bit. For a while, it seemed to happen in runs. I don't see it as anything unusual - it's just a moderating tool - it's usefulness depends on it's use.

Closing a thread simply diffuses a caustic situation that has pushed a discussion beyond self moderation.

When heads have cooled, people can either get back to it or just fuck off. or be big fucking babies and avoid each other for the rest of their lives.

A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move to higher levels. ~ Albert Einstein

(24-03-2017 09:03 AM)Revenant77x Wrote: It was locked for under 12 hours and I very much disagree it was a mistake to do so. ...

I'd've IP blocked the lot of them and gone to bed laughing.

Having lived through the days when the teenage idiot Brit kid and the sheep-fucking Scottish moron killed the red Celt Piggie in our very own William Golding psychodrama, I'm happy to let these mods do what they will.

(24-03-2017 11:32 AM)Momsurroundedbyboys Wrote: I hope this helps ease some of the frustrations you have right now RS. You or anyone can always PM me with any concerns you might have about the forum.

Right now my only hope is that shit goes through and that I didn't screw up the quote tags...Because I've not yet, had my requisite coffee intake of the morning...

Thank, Moms. That makes more sense. I figured since Revs is in the same time zone as I am, I should apply my own time to the situation, but I should have considered that. I'm just getting in from some work-errands I had to run, and frankly after reading what I replied to, above, it was nice to see something that did not make me feel violent.

I appreciate you taking the time to address my points.

I've decided not to get re-involved in that thread, after all, and I think I need to take a step back from this forum for a while.

It is simply inexcusable to me that when I was in a moment of pain/weakness and begged what I thought was a community that valued me for help, and when help was given, that it would become a weapon to be forever thrown in my face.

It is inexcusable and unforgivable.

I hope none of you ever have to see what I have seen, experience what I have experienced, to know the kind of place that it takes for a person like me to have such a place of terror inside them that they have to reach out for help (or else resort to inhuman violence against the person who is harming them), and in doing so leave themselves vulnerable yet again... or to know what it feels like to be stabbed, again and again, for having exposed that vulnerability.

"Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important revelation of all! Could it be that they were not really privy to the thoughts of God?" - E. O. Wilson

(24-03-2017 10:15 AM)Full Circle Wrote: RS, think back to when you were the object of attack and demanded the mods to step in or else you'd leave. Seems to me you are now arguing the very opposite point. Am I wrong? If so please point out the fallacy of what I'm suggesting. Thanks.

You can't see a difference? Can't see a difference?

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?

In my case, someone was deliberately and unquestionably doing everything they could to cause deliberate harm to a person with PTSD, who had specifically asked for it to stop.

In this case, no one was the "object of attack", no one was deliberately trying to go for the guts of a person with PTSD with the nastiest tactics they could devise, and no one asked it to stop.

In this case, it was simply decided out of the blue to end an ongoing argument because Muffs... whom I suspect, for all I loathe about him, would not want any argument closed down for any reason.

How dare you try to make a comparison between the two situations, to throw it in my face, yet again.